The present invention relates to safes in general, and more particularly to improvements in repositories for temporary or permanent storage of valuables, for example, paper money. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in repositories or safes of the type wherein drawers for storage of notes or bills of various denominations, jewels, watches or the like can be conveyed into register with openings in a reinforced casing or housing so as to be readily accessible for insertion or removal of valuables.
The term "safe" is intended to designate stationary or mobile repositories for storage of valuables, especially notes or bills in banks and similar institutions wherein cashiers, tellers or other agents accept bills from customers or employees and/or hand out bills in payment for goods or services or in exchange for checks. As the number of bank robberies and of robberies of other money collecting or paying agencies increases, such institutions are compelled to undertake extensive precautionary measures, not only to prevent robberies and/or to reduce the amounts which can be appropriated by criminals in the course of a robbery, but also to protect the employees from bodily harm or metal anguish in the course of a robbery. Thus, it does not suffice to merely insure that the money which is manipulated by tellers in a bank or by employees in other institutions which handle large amounts of currency is adequately protected by being kept out of reach of robbers, for example, by confining the tellers in bulletproof and hermetically sealed cages. In fact, the laws of certain countries provide that the cages of tellers must be rendered bulletproof and should not be accessible from the outside when the institution is open to the public. A robber is likely to threaten one or more customers and/or employees with bodily harm and thereby induces the tellers to hand out large sums of money in exchange for release of the hostages. In other words, the perpetrators often get away with large hauls in spite of the fact that they cannot gain direct access to the safe or safes.
German Auslegeschrift No. 1,128,326 discloses a safe embodying a conveyor which can be started by closing a switch. The switch is actuatable by a key which can be manipulated to set the conveyor in motion, i.e., to move a money-containing drawer or tray within reach of an authorized employee, or to block the operation of the conveyor and to simultaneously trigger an alarm system. A drawback of such proposal is that the mode of manipulating the key is up to the employee. Thus, a frightened employee who fears for his or her own life, or is afraid that the robbers will inflict bodily harm to the hostages, will decide (or is likely to decide) to actuate the conveyor so as to gain access to and to hand over a substantial sum of money to the perpetrators. In fact, a frightened employee is likely to empty the entire safe in order to placate the robbers and to induce them to leave the premises. Moreover, if a teller conspires with the robbers, he or she is likely to empty the safe in the course of a robbery and to explain his or her action with alleged fear for his or her life and/or with fear for the life or lives of the hostage(s).